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| GM Plans Gas-Electric Car (Plugin hybrid) |
| 2006-06-26 |
| Via Green Car Congress General Motors Corp., losing sales to fuel-efficient cars from Toyota Motor Corp., is developing a hybrid-electric vehicle with a battery that recharges at any outlet, said GM officials familiar with the plan. The so-called plug-in hybrid would travel more than 60 miles on a gallon of gasoline, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the research is secret. GM, which had the first modern electric car in 1996, lags behind Toyota in hybrids, which combine electric motors and gasoline engines. A 28 percent rise in U.S. gasoline prices this year helped boost sales of Toyota's gasoline-electric models 37 percent, giving the Japanese automaker almost three-fourths of U.S. retail hybrid sales. GM doesn't make competing vehicles now. Automakers are trying to raise fuel efficiency as U.S. lawmakers consider tougher requirements for cars and trucks. ``There is rising regulatory demand and consumer demand for improved fuel economy and lower emissions,'' said John Casesa, an auto analyst at New York-based Casesa Shapiro Group LLC. ``There's a lot of pressure to show you're responsive.'' The plug-in designs GM is testing may be ready in time for the Detroit auto show in January, the people said. Any commercial production is at least a year away, they said. The people declined to say how much the company is investing. Rest at link. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #2 This is the right direction. When combined with nuke-generated electricity, it is our only shot to be energy self-sufficient. The global warming wingnuts should like this too. |
| Posted by: Master of Obvious 2006-06-26 19:42 |
| #1 Their electric car was a "hot" sportscar but they only let folks lease them then junked them. Most people that had them loved them. Why doesn't GM just make the damn successful sports car? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-06-26 18:53 |